Price website offers half of future profits August 28, 2008 Moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website, will increase its dividend payout ratio to 50 per cent of all future profits. The bold move was revealed yesterday alongside interim results, and was welcomed by shareholders in the firm, who saw their investment dramatically decrease because of last year’s flotation. The interim dividend is held at 1.3p per [...]
Hargreaves: UK economy to shrink for 18 months August 28, 2008 The recession in the UK could last up to 18 months, chief executive of Bristol-based fund manager Hargreaves Lansdown warned yesterday. Peter Hargreaves, the cofounder of the firm, said that he expects the FTSE 100 index to fall below the 5,000 mark and that there could be up to six quarters of negative growth, worse [...]
O’Brien attacks INM August 28, 2008 Denis O’Brien, a major shareholder in Independent News & Media (INM), has called on the group to “urgently” review the operations of its flagship titles The Independent and Belfast Telegraph after first-half profits tumbled. While the group grew its underlying revenues by three per cent in the six months to 30 June, adjusted earnings per [...]
TNS rebuffs WPP despite GfK walk out August 28, 2008 Market research company Taylor Nelson Sofre said it would continue to fight WPP’s hostile bid even after its preferred bidder GfK walked away from a takeover deal yesterday because it could not raise enough cash. German GfK had been trying to raise financing with private equity groups and wealth investors to launch a rival takeover [...]
Taylor Wimpey profits hit by £1.5bn writedown August 28, 2008 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey’s first half profits fell sharply after writing down a massive £1.5bn loss on the value of its property assets. The new homes specialist, which earlier in the year warned it would breach its banking covenant over the full year, said yesterday that it was still in talks with its bankers about revising [...]
Collingwood relishes his return August 26, 2008 Paul Collingwood has told of his relief at standing down as England’s one-day captain and insists he is fully behind successor Kevin Pietersen. The Durham all-rounder has completed his four-match ban for presiding over a slow over rate and goes straight into the side for the second one-day international with South Africa at Edgbaston today. [...]
Make money from money with the three key tactics in Forex trading August 26, 2008 Understand the basic trades and you can profit from foreign exchange, writes Phil Thornton With equity, property and bond markets going through a rough time, investors are increasingly tempted to see currency trading as a safe haven. However newcomers should remember that while the gains can be impressive, those without a clear strategy can suffer [...]
The Olympic games are over – but Asia is still where the growth is to be found August 26, 2008 It was Aztec Camera who once sang “Summer in the City and the air is still”. I don’t know about the air, but the equity markets have been relatively quiet over the last week, except for a Warren Buffett induced bounce on Friday. Thank goodness – I don’t think any of us needed another August [...]
Lonmin boss sells shares August 26, 2008 Lonmin chairman’s vigorous opposition to a £33-a-share takeover approach from mining group Xstrata is likely to be overshadowed by revelations that he sold his personal shares in the company for only £1 more than Xstrata’s offer. Earlier this month John Craven, who has been chairman of Lonmin since 1997, defined Xstrata’s proposal as “opportunistic” and [...]
UBS to slash pay and bonuses August 26, 2008 Beleaguered bank UBS last night admitted it was planning on slashing its salary and bonus budget by billions of dollars, as it struggles to cope with the effects of the credit crunch. But a spokesman said that reports in Swiss newspaper Sonntag claiming that the payroll budget would be cut by $4bn were exaggerated, pointing [...]
